Home Is Where the Heart Is
by Lela-of-Bast
Summary: 50 themes on Princess Shinkokami


**AN: **Pretty much what the summary says; fifty themes inspired by the challenge at lj. Only I made up my own themes. I've decided that it's almost harder than using a list. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I created two characters for this story, Prince Taiko, and Prince Kiseki. Other than that, I claim no ownership to the characters.

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****Home is Where the Heart Is  
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****50 Themes on Princess Shinkokami  
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**Fans**

Shinkokami watched the pink _shusuken_fly through the air. With grace she caught it and sent it hurtling off towards her friend Yukimi, followed by a yellow one. It took great skill to keep up in a game of fan toss, especially with multiple fans. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother, hands clasped, head low, waiting beside her father.

Shinko gave the command for the game to end and the Yamani girls caught their _shusukens_ and tucked them into their _obis_.

The princess bowed solemnly to her friends and quickly went to her mother. She had a feeling that her life was about to change.

**Chains**

Prince Taiko was kind enough. He was Shinko's third cousin, twice removed. But his mother- she was a lady who was likely to compare to an ogre- only much meaner. Shinkokami would have given anything to escape from this marriage.

**Freedom**

Two minutes of conversation had left Shinkokami breathless. She was free. Her marriage contract to Prince Taiko had been dissolved by her Imperial uncle. Instead the emperor had offered her hand to the ambassadors from Tortall, for their crowned prince, Roald.

Shinkokami was going to Tortall.

**Brave**

Watching as they said good bye, onlookers would never have known that Shinkokami had never been separated from her mother before in her life. She kept her head held high, and her Yamani mask on tight, at least until she had entered her private quarters aboard the ship that would take her to her new home.

**Waves**

The ship was nearly swallowed by the ocean. A summer storm swept them around for hours, putting them days off track. Shinkokami's stomach didn't much enjoy the weather.

**Home**

Shinko looked around her new rooms. They had been decorated tastefully in a theme combining Yamani and Tortallan styles.

Shinko felt, for a moment, that she belonged.

**Duty**

Sapphire eyes met Shinko's dark ones.

She smiled, dropping her Yamani mask. The prince bowed low.

At the end of her first dinner in the Tortallan royal court, Shinkokami could say that the prince was nice enough.

**Friendship**

Shinko watched the squire's eyebrows furrow, trying to place her.

"Cricket?" Kel asked at last.

"You _do_ know me!" Shinko said, delighted to have a Tortallan friend.

**Space**

Shinkokami liked Prince Roald. They seemed to have a lot in common. She didn't understand why they couldn't talk to each other, why there was such a straining distance between them.

**Nagging**

"Just go for a little while," Yuki said. Shinkokami sighed and followed her friend to the little party in the book room.

Lord Raoul and Commander Buriram were there, as were Kel, Roald, and a couple of their squire friends. Yuki took a seat close to Nealan, leaving only one open chair. Shinko sighed inwardly and sat down next to Roald.

"I think we've been deceived," Roald whispered as Lord Raoul began to talk about the bandit hunt.

**Dancing**

Roald's hand rested on Shinkokami's waist. She smiled as they whirled around the ballroom. Just as the last dance of the evening was ending, Roald pulled her out onto a balcony. A light snow was falling, and it glistened with the glow of the lights from inside. Roald leaned forward and gave Shinko a light kiss.

"I'm glad we talked tonight," he said, blushing. Abruptly he turned and walked back inside.

Shinko stood where she was, unable to answer or to follow, as she was glued to the spot in surprise.

**Beauty**

Shinkokami watched Queen Thayet. She had a beauty unlike that of any woman the princess had ever met before. As the queen graciously accepted Roald's dance invitation, Shinko felt that she couldn't even compare to her future mother-in-law.

**Rain**

On a rainy day when Roald and Shinkokami were stuck inside the palace, Roald taught the Yamani princess a game that he and his siblings had enjoyed in childhood: sliding down the stair rails. The palace servants were glad to have their polishing done for them.

**Roads**

Shinkokami thoroughly enjoyed the Grand Progress. It was fascinating to see the varying landscapes and towns in her new land.

**War**

It was official. Tortall was at war with her northern neighbor. Shinko hid her worry behind a green silk fan.

**Sulking**

"Roald, it will be alright," Shinkokami said. "The realm needs the support of its monarchs now more than ever. We're all making sacrifices."

"Our wedding should not have to be a sacrifice," the prince insisted. But in the end, he came around, and Roald announced to his parents that the wedding was postponed.

**Fear**

Shinko knew that Roald could take care of himself, and that he was kept safe at Fort Mastiff. General Vanget was unlikely to put the realm's heir in a place where he'd come to harm. If that was true, then why did she feel such consuming dread?

**Letters**

Distance was once again a problem between Shinkokami and Roald. This time, though it was actual miles. Hundreds of them.

Shinko found that she could fill page after page with thoughts and dreams and send them off to Roald. She was delighted when she learned that he would do the same.

**Love**

Shinkokami set down the letter with a sad sigh. She realized with a pang that her feelings for the prince had evolved from friendship to something more.

**Peace**

Shinkokami sat by the window of the small library. Half-finished embroidery lay across her lap, but she paid it no attention. Her eyes were on the road below, waiting to see the horsemen on the horizon.

Suddenly the castle gates pulled open and Roald rode in. He left his reins in the hands of a stable boy and looked around feverishly towards the windows.

Shinko hurried out onto the balcony and waved, sewing falling to the ground, forgotten for good. Roald picked up speed until he was running towards her. He climbed up the trellis and onto the balcony.

Shinko slipped her arms around Roald's neck. The kiss they shared was one of true love. The princess whispered into her prince's ear.

"Welcome home."

**Silk**

The chapel was decorated with thousands of white roses. Her dress was of creamy white silk that rustled gracefully with her every move. All around friends and family are watching as Roald and Shinko became man and wife. There was music and candles and a hundred other things that Shinko was oblivious to.

All she remembered was the look in Roald's blue eyes as they said "I do."

**Sensitivity**

Shinkokami never knew that the human body had so many sensitive areas. On their wedding night, she and Roald discovered every one.

**Marriage**

Shinko had thought that it would be much easier to adjust to living with Roald in close quarters. Even after the wedding night, they still turned their backs on each other as they readied for bed. Still, Shinkokami found that it was nice to wake up warm on cold winter mornings.

**Scars**

Some nights Roald woke up screaming. Shinko rubbed his back soothingly, wishing that she could offer more to comfort him.

**Reverence**

Since Shinkokami had told Roald that she was pregnant, she sensed that he had begun to treat her differently. It was a new emotion from the prince, one of mixed love, joy, and concern. His over-attentiveness bugged the princess to no end.

**Panic**

Shinkokami doubled over in pain. She rubbed the small bulge that was her baby, as Roald ran to her side. He tried to soothe her, but his face was ashen with worry. It was much too early for the baby to be born.

**Emptiness**

Shinko's tears flowed freely as she ran her fingers over the satin cushion that rested in the golden crib. The crib that her baby would never use.

Roald had taken it equally hard, but he dealt with it differently; burying himself in official documents and books, trying to hide from the pain.

Princess Shinkokami had never felt so alone.

**Garden**

The King had commissioned a gardener to make a Yamani style garden for Princess Shinkokami's birthday. Now she sat here, on a large rock near a pond, hugging her knees that were drawn up to her chest. She looked at her reflection in the pond.

Her face was thin and drawn, and her skin paler than usual. The princess hadn't been eating properly since the tragedy, and she was still recuperating from the loss of blood.

Suddenly warm arms wrapped a blanket around her body. She looked up into the deep hazel eyes of the queen. She held the girl, as a mother would, and let her cry out her misery.

**Stars**

Shinkokami watched the stars from the balcony of her room as they twinkled merrily in the black abyss above. She felt a hand on her arm and turned to see Roald.

"You should be inside," he said, worriedly gathering her into his arms. "You're still weak-"

Shinko cut him off, abruptly kissing him. Roald's lips were warm on hers. He pulled her into his strong embrace, deepening the kiss.

With that kiss, Shinkokami knew that they would be alright.

**Ideas**

Even at night, the summer heat was unbearable. Shinko and Roald had stripped the blankets off of their bed, leaving only one silk sheet on the mattress.

Shinkokami had rummaged through their drawers until she had found one of Roald's shirts, a white garment made of thin cotton. She wore this, while Roald slept in naught but a loincloth.

"I can't sleep," the prince whispered when he realized that she was awake.

"Me either," Shinko said back. "I'm not tired." Roald grinned mischievously.

"I can fix that."

**Eyes**

Shinko was aware that people looked at her differently than they used to, especially when Roald kissed the back of her neck before taking his seat at the supper table.

**Wonder**

Shinko grinned up at Roald, who was peering at the tiny bundle that his wife held in her arms. The baby had ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes. They knew, they had counted.

Their joy ran over just watching her sleep, her tiny chest gently rising and falling as she breathed.

**Successor**

Shinkokami watched Baby Lianokami as she lay in the beautiful golden crib. Roald came up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her.

"Duke Baird says I mustn't conceive again," she said quietly. "It's too dangerous."

"I know, my love," Roald said, kissing her cheek.

"But you need a son. You need an heir." Roald smiled. He walked over to the crib and gently stroked Lianokami's cheek with his finger. The prince met Shinko's eyes with his own blue ones.

"I have an heir."

**Fright**

Shinko's heart leaped in her chest as she watched Roald lift their daughter into the air, spinning in a circle. The baby giggled in delight, but Shinkokami continued to knit placidly, hiding her discomfort with the game.

**Responsibility**

Roald had once told Shinkokami that he wished that he'd spent more time with his mother instead of his nursemaid. She and Roald decided that they would care for their child themselves.

**Fever**

"Lianokami is a strong, healthy baby," the healer said. "She'll pull through."

As the man retreated, Shinkokami held her daughter tight. She could feel the intense heat that was consuming the baby.

"Please let him be right," she prayed in Yamani.

**Broken**

When Roald returned late at night from his excursion to Port Caynn, he found his wife asleep in a rocker in Lianokami's room. The baby was lying on Shinkokami's chest, sleeping soundly. The prince smiled.

Shinko woke when she felt Roald lift her and carry her into their adjoining bedroom.

"Did anything interesting happen today, my dear?"

Shinkokami looked down to her baby, and seeing that the fever had broken, she sighed with relief.

"If only you knew."

**Fairies**

"And the prince and princess lived happily ever after," Roald said, closing the book of fairy stories. Lianokami took her thumb out of her mouth to sigh contentedly.

"Da, are there really such things as fairies?" the three-year-old asked. Shinkokami looked up from the dress she was mending and smiled at her daughter.

"Do you believe?" Roald said. The girl nodded her head emphatically. "Then come with me." Roald picked up Lianokami and carried her to the window. It was covered in frost crystals.

"In the winter, fairies come and dance on the windows. Look, you see the foot prints they left behind."

**Learning**

During Lianokami's fourth midwinter, Shinkokami and her daughter learned how to ice skate. Roald had a grand time as their teacher.

**Laughter**

"Da, look what I can do!" cried the six year old princess. She ran to the top of the staircase, climbed onto the banister and rode swiftly to the bottom. Shinkokami chuckled lightly as her husband followed.

**Accident**

"Do you think I did this on purpose?" Shinko cried.

Like every other married couple, Roald and Shinko had argued before, about trivial things. But this was their first real fight.

"It was careless," Roald said, stiffly turning and leaving their chambers. Shinko sunk into a chair, sobs claiming her.

"Mama?" a small voice asked. Shinkokami gathered her daughter into her arms. She looked up at her, her blue eyes filled with trust. "Why is Da so mad?"

"Lian, sweetheart, your da isn't mad," Shinko said, absently stroking her belly, where her baby grew. "He's scared."

**Apology**

Roald returned long after Lianokami had been tucked into her own bed.

"I'm sorry, Shinko," he whispered, taking her in her arms.

"We should be so happy right now," she said quietly. "But that can't happen because it's so dangerous. I'm scared too, Roald."

"Just remember that I'm here with you," the prince said. "All the way."

**Ward**

The second childbirth was harder on Princess Shinkokami's body, but both she and the babe survived. Duke Baird insisted that she and Roald get a permanent ward against another pregnancy.

**Miracle**

Shinko didn't have time to feel depressed at losing her fertility. She and Roald now had a son. He was healthy and strong. They named him Kiseki, the Yamani word for 'miracle.'

**Meeting**

Shinkokami cradled Kiseki carefully. Roald set Lianokami down on the bed, and scooted up beside them. Lian looked into her baby brother's eyes, then stroked his tiny fingers with her own.

"He'll do," she said at last, settling down beside her mother. Shinko looked up at Roald. He grinned brightly. He'd never wanted Lian to be an only child, and now his dream had come true.

**Children**

"Where are the children?" Roald said, rubbing his sore knee. "They're supposed to have lessons right now." Shinkokami pointed out the window into the courtyard. A man in a robe ran behind two dark-haired children, waving a scroll and calling their names. Lianokami quickly mounted her pony, pulling four year-old Seki up before her. They rode off into a group of other children, galloping to be in the lead. Shinkokami smiled.

"Lianokami has sneaked them away again," she said calmly. "I think that it's good for them to spend time together. In a couple of months Lian will be a page and we'll hardly see her."

**Ordeal**

Shinkokami wrenched a piece of cloth between her hands. Roald took her hand comfortingly, but Shinko could see the fear behind his eyes.

"She'll be fine," Kiseki, now twelve, said.

At last the door of the Chamber of Ordeal opened, and Lianokami stumbled out, and into her knightmaster's arms. She was sweat-soaked and breathed heavily, but she looked to be unharmed. Shinkokami and Roald both let out the breath they hadn't realized they were holding.

Seki rolled his eyes, then looked at his sister with pride, giving her a big thumbs-up. He glanced back at his relieved parents.

"Told you so."

**Tears**

King Jonathan passed away three months after his granddaughter was knighted. Shinkokami had never admired Queen Thayet as much as she did at the funeral. The widowed lady was solemnly refined throughout the ceremony, but in their private rooms, she cried into Roald's arms.

**King**

Roald's face was solemn. He had taken the Ordeal of Kinghood. Now the priests placed his father's golden crown on his head. Cheers rang up through the Hall of Crowns. Loudest of all were Lian and Seki.

**Life**

Shinkokami had learned a lot since she'd come to Tortall. She'd learned how to be a wife, lover, mother, and queen, and that in any of these roles, women didn't have to be stiff and silent. She'd learned all of these things from her prince and his family. Roald taught her how to live.

Looking back, Shinkokami was truly thankful.


End file.
